International Journal of Humanities and Social Science
Vol. 4, No. 8(1); June 2014
Marketing Strategies of Commercial Fish Farming under Economic Stimulus
Programme (ESP) in Kenya: An Empirical Study of Kitui County
Michael Kasamba Mutambuki
MBA Graduate
School of Business
Kenyatta University
Bula Hannah Orwa PhD
Lecturer of Human Resource Management
Department of Business Administration
School of Business
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Fish farming continues to be the fast growing animal production industry and this rate of expansion must
continue if aquaculture was to satisfy global demand for fish products. Kitui County which is largely arid and
semi-arid land has not been left out in ensuring that fish farming develops to bridge the gap as a source of the
alternative livelihood to the local community. The main objective of the research study was to determine
marketing strategies of commercial fish farming in Kitui County. The study specifically aimed at; determining the
effect of product branding on marketing of commercial fish farming, assessing the effect of sales promotion as a
market strategy of fish products under ESP; establish the effect of market positioning in commercial fish farming
under ESP and find out the core effect of competences in marketing. The study population comprised of a total of
667 fish farmers selected across eight constituencies of Kitui County. The study adopted a simple random
sampling technique to select a sample size of 200 respondents. Questionnaires were used as the major data
collection instruments and administered to the respondents. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics
and inferential statistics. The results were presented using charts and tables. The results from the study have
clearly indicated that the product branding, sales promotion, market positioning and core competences marketing
strategies affect commercial fish farming under economic stimulus. These four factors had different indices of
determinacy with branding of fish products being main influencing factor closely followed by core competences.
Sales promotion and the market positioning were found to be also important in determining commercial fish
farming. Most of commercialized fish farmers would not easily sell their produce due to poor mechanisms of
marketing. These can be associated to lack of enough branding of fish products and fish farmers low
competences. This study found the need for comparative commercial fish farming marketing studies in other
counties to reach elaborative findings for this industry.
1.0 Background of the Study
Marketing is generally considered as the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong
customer relations in order to capture value from customers in return (Kotler & Armstrong, 2007). A marketing
strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest
opportunities to increase sale and achieve suitable competitive advantages. To develop and exploit firm’s
management (Dibb & Sally, 2006). They also assert that strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of
marketing plans designing to fill market needs and reach marketing objectives and often integrate an
organization’s marketing goals, policies and tactics into a cohesive whole.
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A market strategy combines the company’s set of marketing mix variables and the arrangements for their
application and identifies the firm’s marketing goals and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a
stated timeframe. The strategy determines the choice of target market segments, market positioning, and the
allocation of resources along each marketing mix factor (Dibb & Sally, 2006). It is most effective when it is
undertaken as an integral component of the overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will successfully
engage customers, prospects and competitors in the market arena (Richard, 2003). Marketing strategies are
formulated to point at the strategic direction the marketing department will take for the considered planning
period. The strategy requires clear objectives and a focus in line with the company’s corporate goals (Dibb &
Sally, 2006).
The local community has for many years depended on rain fed agriculture. This kind of farming has disappointed
many due to persistent drought leading to crop failure. This has necessitated the need for alternative livelihoods.
Fish farming improve the lives of its citizens through enhancing the sectors contribution to wealth creation,
increased employment for youth and women, food security and improve the economy through foreign exchange
earnings of fish exports (ESP, 2009).
The fish farming enterprise productivity programme (FFEPP) funded under the economic stimulus programme
has boosted commercial fish farming in Kitui county. However, the fish farming development has been facing
some challenges which include access to markets and market information, policy, legal and institutional
framework, lack of access to water resources, poor human capacities, lack of access to fish production,
empowered producer organization , lack of business skills for stakeholders, quality and adequate seed available
(National Aquaculture Strategy and Development Plan, 2010-2015) known as filling the fish supply Gap for food
security, income and health living. It is due to the challenges experienced the researcher bases his study (National
Aquaculture Strategy and Development Plan, 2010-2015).
Economic stimulus program in fisheries Development intended to improve nutrition and create over 120,000
employment and income opportunities. It was perceived to be one of the core entrepreneur activities embraced by
many citizens under the ESP (2009).To achieve this, 200 fish ponds were constructed in each of the selected
constituencies at an estimated cost of Kshs. 8 million per constituency. The Ministry of Fisheries Development
took a lead in implementing this project (Ibid, 2009).
1.1 Statement of the Problem
In Kenya, current fish marketing are saturated with products, decreased economies of scale and high competition.
Lack of appropriate marketing strategies, skills and knowledge in marketing had further complicated the situation
leaving many fish farmers struggling to grow market share. Moreover fish farming like any other commercial
businesses require adequate finances but are limited by limitations on voting rights, transferability of shares,
returns paid on invested capital and inability to sell additional shares to the public to secure additional funds
(GoK, 2008).
The current situation in most of these fish farming is characterized by haphazard marketing strategies, lack of
coherence, short – terms and lack of focus (ministry of fisheries development and marketing, fishing marketing
strategy, 2010 – 2015). Interestingly, there is no concerted effort for initiating and sustaining a strategic marketing
culture and empowerment for the same. Reports and empirical research have also not highlighted the set of
strategies in use and how they have influenced the performance of the fish farming. This has made most fish
farmers in Kitui County to be dormant as they lack proper and coherent marketing strategies. It was on this
ground that the researcher undertook to determine marketing strategies applied in commercial fish farming in
Kitui County (ministry of fisheries development and marketing, fishing marketing strategy, 2010 – 2015).
1.2 Objectives of the Study
The study specifically aimed at achieving the following objectives;
i. To determine the effect of product branding on marketing of fish under economic stimulus programme in
Kitui County.
ii. To examine the effect of Sales promotion on commercial fish farming under economic stimulus programme
in Kitui County.
iii. To assess the core competences affecting commercial fish farming under economic stimulus programme in
Kitui County.
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Vol. 4, No. 8(1); June 2014
iv. To establish effect of market positioning 0n commercial fish farming under economic stimulus programme
in Kitui County.
1.3 Research Hypotheses
This proposed the following null hypotheses emerging within the domain of the problem statement:
i. H01: There is no relationship between branding and marketing of fish in Kitui County under economic
stimulus programme
ii. H02: There is no relationship between sales promotion and commercial fish farming in Kitui County under
economic stimulus programme
iii. H03: There is no relationship between the core competences and commercial fish farming under economic
stimulus programme in Kitui County
iv. H04: There is no relationship between market positioning and commercial fish farming under economic
stimulus under economic stimulus programme in Kitui County
1.4 The Scope of the Study
The study was mainly concerned with marketing strategies of commercial fish farming in Kitui County. The study
population comprised of self help groups, individuals, schools, churches and other institution dealing with fish
farming business. The study then narrows its research on determinants of marketing strategies of commercial fish
farming under economic stimulus package in Kitui County.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The finding of the study had important implication on the future of fish farming in Kenya. The study was
expected to contribute to the existing knowledge on marketing strategies and their relationship on performance of
fish farming business. This would enable the management of fish farmers to put in place marketing strategies that
will see the farmers gain a competitive edge over their competitors.
It shall benefit the Ministry of fisheries and marketing in the formulation of future policies aimed at enhancing
performance of fish farming business as well as implementation of strategy in order to achieve vision 2030.
It shall be helpful to the management of fish farmers business in Kitui County. It would guide them to adopt
appropriate marketing strategies that would ensure both customer satisfaction and retention.
The study will also form a base for students and other researchers to develop their studies. The scholars and
researchers who would like to debate or carry out more study on fish farming business in dry areas would find the
study important in their studies since they will have a ready source of literature review. The study report will act
as reference and stimulate the interest among academicians and this will encourage further researches.
2.0 Literature Review
Theory of marketing strategies
In general, there are three aspects to the strategy of firms, regardless of the level of the strategy: content,
formulation process, and implementation. Strategy content refers to the specific relationships, offerings, timing,
and pattern of resource deployment planned by a business in its quest for competitive advantage, such as generic
strategy of cost leadership versus differentiation; push versus pull strategy. Strategy formulation process refers to
the activities that a business engages in for determining the strategy content such as market opportunity analysis,
competitor analysis and decision-making styles. Strategy implementation refers to the actions initiated within the
organization and in its relationships with external constituencies to realize the strategy that is organization
structure, coordination mechanisms and control systems (Porter, 1980,1985).
2.1 Theoretical Review
2.1.1 Institutional Theory
Institutional theory suggests that the actions of firms and the outcomes of these actions are influenced by the
knowledge systems, beliefs, and rules that characterize the context of the organization. The firm is embedded in a
general environment comprising the institutions that lay the guidelines to shape the behavior of firms and macrosocietal factors such as the prevailing culture. The firm is embedded in an industry environment that comprises
the actors within an industry such as suppliers, customers, competitors, and channel partners. The nature of the
relationships among these industry stakeholders influences the actions that a firm can initiate in pursuit of
competitive advantage.
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The firm has an internal environment that comprises its unique sets of skills and resources; collective beliefs
about the market, competition, and industry for instance shared mental models and culture (Porter, 1980,1985).
Corporate strategy, business strategy, and functional strategies such as marketing strategy interact to shape the
competitive advantage of individual businesses in a firm's portfolio. It is the confluence of these strategies that
determines the extent to which a particular business is able to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. This
competitive advantage, in turn, affects the market-based performance and financial performance of the businesses.
A number of competing and complementary theories in industrial organization economics, business policy and
strategy, and marketing provide valuable insights into the determinants of performance at different levels. For
instance: The structure-conduct-performance model (Bain, 1956) attempts to explain "why some industries, on
average, are more profitable than others. “The efficiency perspective (Demsetz, 1973) provides insights into why
some firms in an industry are more profitable than others. The works of (Porter, 1980,1985) provide insights into
"how the structural characteristics of an industry and the competitive strategy pursued by a business jointly
determine the performance of a business. “The resource-based view of the firm attempts to explain superior
firm/business performance in terms of firm-specific skills and resources that are rare, valuable, no imitable, and
characterized by absence of equivalent substitutes (Barney, 1991; Rumelt, 1984; Wernerfelt, 1984).
Matrixes approaches to portfolio analysis and planning, such as the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) growthshare matrix and the market attractiveness business competitive position matrix, provide insights into "why some
businesses in a multi-business firm's portfolio are more profitable than others. “The work of (Peter & Waterman,
1982) is representative of research that attempts to shed insights into content, process, and implementation factors
that affect long-term performance of firms at a more general level regardless of the industry in which they
operate. The study used this theory to explain how marketing strategies can give commercial fish farming
competitive advantage through confluence of these strategies that determine the extent to which fish farming
business operate”.
2.1.2 Game Theory
Game-theoretic models assume that firms are (hyper)rational utility maximizes, where rationality implies that
they strive to achieve the most preferred of outcomes subject to the constraint that their rivals also behave in a
similar fashion. While there may be uncertainty regarding the expectations and actions of its rivals, a rational firm
is expected to overcome uncertainty by forming competitive conjectures, subjective probability estimates of
rivals' expectations and behavior. In effect, game-theoretic models assume intelligent firms that can put
themselves into the "shoes" of their rivals and reason from their perspective. Signaling: Competitive signals are
"announcements or previews of potential actions intended to convey information or to gain information from
competitors". Competitive behavior is often influenced by signals sent by competitors. Signaling could also place
the firm that sends the signal at a disadvantage. For example, signals that provide competitors with advance
information about the firm's intentions could hurt the competitive position of the firm, and signals that are not
followed through (cheap talk) could hurt the competitive reputation of the firm.
Furthermore, signaling that is interpreted as predatory behavior may trigger antitrust review into the behavior of
the firm (Zagare, 1984). Innovation and R&D for the long-term profitability of the firm is viewed as a process of
"creative destruction" (through innovation that changes the very nature of competitive advantage in the market)
rather than as a condition leading to equilibrium. This argument is supported by the "Austrian" school of strategy
(Jacobson, 1992), which suggests that the business environment is inherently dynamic and therefore characterized
by uncertainty and disequilibrium. The Austrian school views profits in such an environment as a consequence of
discovery and innovation. Such discovery and innovation do not necessarily mean drastic changes of a
discontinuous (Schumpeterian) nature alone. Rather, they span a continuum encompassing innovations with the
potential to provide the firm with a differential advantage over its competitors such as reformulation of a product,
developing new processes for manufacturing a present product, and developing new channels of distribution
(Jacobson, 1992). The study used this theory to explain how commercial fish farmers can read the signals of the
competitors and make a rational decision which can give them a competitive advantage in the marketing of their
products.
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2.1.3 Product Quality Theory
The economic view of quality is any aspect other than price that influences the demand curve of a product.
Combining these two notions, quality can be construed as any non price aspect of a product that signifies its
superiority and causes a shift in its demand curve. Ideally, a business would want to sustain a higher price as well
as a higher market share but these two objectives may not always be compatible. That is, if the business were to
follow a’ niching’ strategy by offering a high quality product at a high price targeted at a small market niche, it
effectively excludes itself from the contest for market share dominance in the broader market. The ability of a
business to charge higher prices for higher quality is contingent on the ease with which consumers can determine
the quality of the product. When quality is uncertain, consumers tend to use price as an indicator of quality. This
suggests a bidirectional relationship between quality and price, in which perceived quality positively influences
price under conditions of greater information availability, and price positively influences perceived quality under
conditions of lower information availability (Varadarajan et al., 1999). The study used this theory to explain how
commercial fish farming can be improved through selling quality fish products hence attaining market share
dominance.
2.1.4 Market Share Theory
The structure-conduct-performance model positions a positive relationship between industry concentration and
profitability. Evidence also suggests that the relationship between market share and profitability is robust across
different definitions of market share, different sampling frames, and controls for accounting method variation. In
markets beset by uncertainty and imperfect information about product performance, the high market share of a
brand acts as a signal of superior quality to consumers. In such markets, consumers are likely to have greater
confidence in high market share brands. This enables high market share brands to command a price premium over
lower market share brands and thereby enhance their profitability ( Varadarajan et al., 1999).
Market orientation is conceptualized in terms of three dimensions: customer orientation, competitor orientation,
and inter-functional coordination. Define market orientation from a behavioral perspective as "the organization
wide generation of market intelligence pertaining to current and future customer needs, dissemination of the
intelligence across departments, and organization wide responsiveness to it" (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990).
2.2 Empirical Review
A baseline survey conducted in the area showed increased demand for fish products but there was low knowledge
and skills among the small scale fish farmers in of Taita and Taveta districts. Fish farming has not been common
in the Coast until recently when farmers in the upper districts of Taita and Taveta started to keep fish alongside
other livestock. The fish were reared in small family ponds and produced fish for subsistence use only. The
constant feeds and fuel requirement for the demonstration centers calls for another sustainable solution. The
number of farmers in need of technical support is getting more thus need for increase in the number of staff. Field
offices are at times unable to assess the fish farmer’s progress on the ground due to lack of transport. In addition,
lack of quality fish fingerlings for the farmers especially for the Nile Tilapia is also a major challenge. According
to Short-term surveys carried out revealed that many fish farmers lack direction on how to effectively market their
produce and service. In the past they relied on monopolistic marketing arrangements facilitated by the individual
fish farmers’ (fisheries marketing strategy, 2010-2015).
The current setup of Ministry of Fisheries Development Marketing Department lacks the necessary structural
support to actualize the marketing functions effectively (National Aquaculture Strategy and Development Plan,
2010-2015) As a result, the ministry has come up with a fish marketing strategy, a document envisaged to a road
map to enhancing the marketing of the activities in the sector. The marketing strategies that need to be
strengthened are product development, market development, product branding, sales promotion, innovation and
adoption of ICT, core competences (National Aquaculture Strategy and Development Plan, 2010-2015).
2.2.1 Product Branding of Commercial fish Farming Under ESP
Dibb and Sally (2006) noted that most marketers believe that a key focus for their activity is the differentiation of
their product proposition vis-à-vis competing products and services. Target customers must perceive the product
to have distinct image and positioning as compared to the competitors. Marketers should emphasize that they are
best in the market in terms of attributes desired by customers (Kortler, 2009).
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2.2.2 Sales Promotions of Commercial fish Farming Under ESP
Sales force, publicity, public relations and direct marketing. Direct marketing is a decision by organization
marketers to select a marketing channel that avoids dependence on marketing channel intermediaries and focus
marketing communications activity on promotional mix ingredients that deal directly with target customers. It is
interactive in nature (Dibb & Sally, 2006). Fish farmers need to utilize heavily on these marketing activities so as
to increase market share and retain customers (Ibid, 2011).
2.2.3 Core Competencies in Commercial Fish Farming Under ESP
According to the business dealing it usually involves well trained and well informed professional buyers on either
side to get either high value or lower costs for their respective organizations. Under this strategy, the ministries of
fisheries needs to engage the services of well trained marketing personnel and also embark on human resource
development as well as provision of business development services (BDS) (Fish marketing strategy journal, 20102015).
Onyiego, (2007) researched on the extent of implementation of the performance appraisal in fish farming. He
noted that fish farming in Kenya have not fully embraced the use of performance appraisal as important tools of
increasing the upward mobility, training and development of individual employees.
2.2.4 Market Positioning of Commercial Fish Farming Under ESP
According to Kotler and Armstrong (2007), a market place is physical such as a shop or a departmental store.
When compared to other private business enterprises apart from fish farming and a few agricultural sectors with
store for resale of farm input, fish business facilities are not cut out for market places and market spaces
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
Product branding




Improvement of product
value in the market
New product development
Market research
Product differentiation
H01
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
:
Effective commercial fish farming
 Market share
 Increased profit
Sales promotion



Direct marketing
Advertising
Publicity
H02
Core competences




Technology application
Human resource
Management effectiveness
Financial resources
H03
Market Positioning
 Online marketing
 Market segmentation
 Communication distribution
 Market target
Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework
Source: Research data, 2014
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Vol. 4, No. 8(1); June 2014
3.0 Research Methodology
3.1 Rsearch Design
This study applied a descriptive research design. According to Cooper & Schindler (2006), descriptive research
design is a non experimental in that it deals with the relationships between non manipulated variables in a natural
rather than laboratory setting. This study targeted 667 fish farmers from the eight constituencies of Kitui County,
(Ministry of fisheries and development Kitui County Office statistic 2013). They were distributed in the eight
constituencies of the Kitui County which was selected for this study. The sample size for the study was 200
which constitute 30% of the total population. According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) a sample size of 10%
is acceptable if the population size is big.
3.2 Research Instrument
The study used Primary data. The collection of primary data was through structured questionnaires as noted by
Sherri (2010). A questionnaire for fish farmers was structured with closed-ended items only. The selected farmers
filled in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into three the personal details of the respondents and the
questions in groups of various study variables.
4.0 Data Analysis and Presentation
Data obtained from the questionnaires was processed through editing and coding and analyzed using descriptive
statistics with the help of statistical package for social Sciences which offers extensive data handling capabilities
and numerous statistics analysis procedure that analyze small to very large data statistics. This is in agreement
with Bell(2007).
4.1 Community Involvement in Commercial Fish Farming Under ESP in the County
Results in Table 4.1 below show that 66% of the respondents said ‘yes’. Only 16% said ‘no’, farmers who were
either not sure or did know were 15% and 3% respectively. From these finding it can be concluded that the
community was involved in implementation of commercial fish farming under the economic stimulus programme.
Table 4.1 Community Involvement in Commercial Fish Farming Under ESP in the County
Frequency
132
32
30
6
200
A Yes
No
Not sure
Do not know
Total
Percent
66.0
16.0
15.0
3.0
100.0
Research data, 2014
Branding Scores
Results in table 4.2 below show that there was no enough branding, 120 farmers citing strongly followed by other
55 just agreeing. It was also indicated by 193 farmers that branding is poorly done. Somehow the branding of the
fish product was inadequate. With many farmers remaining in indifferent option instead of rating somehow is an
indication of lack of some primary information among the farmers. Some of the main attributed ideologies have
significantly pictured in this study. Most of respondents pointed out branding scores as core in the industry. Such
attributes include elements such as convenience of the product/services. Product positioning can be conducted
through attribute positioning, pricing, quality, product use and target market. This supports Kortler (2009).
Table 4.2 Counts of Attributes Associated with Effective Marketing
Branding is minimal
Branding is poor
A
Inadequate branding
Strongly
Agree
120
91
77
Agree
Indifferent
Disagree
55
102
93
15
1
23
10
6
4
Strongly
Disagree
0
0
0
Total
200
200
200
Research data, 2014
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Sales Promotion Methods Required for Commercial Fish Product under ESP
Results in Table 4.3 below show personal selling as the main sales method with 74% of the farmers saying so.
Sales through advertising are mentioned by 20.5% of the respondents, sales through shows and exhibition was
mentioned by 4% and finally use of mobile telephony connectivity as a means of sales was mentioned by only 3
farmers. Most of farmers do personal selling as a very widely used ingredient of promotional mix. Personal
selling is the process of using personal communication in an exchange situation to inform customers and persuade
them to purchase products. It gives marketers the greatest freedom to adjust a message to satisfy customer’s
information needs. A business organization must sell product in order to survive and grow. Marketing activities
help sell organization products .By so doing they generate financial resources that can be used to develop
innovative products.
Table 4.3 Sales Promotion Methods Required for Commercial Fish Product
Methods
Personal selling
Advertising
Shows and exhibition
Mobile telephony connectivity
Total
Frequency
148
41
8
3
200
Percent
74.0
20.5
4.0
1.5
100.0
Research data, 2014
Rating Marketing Core Competencies of Committee Members
Results in Table 4.4 below show 123 farmers rated the committee competence to be not effective, while 47 more
farmers say it is just effective. This clearly means most of the committee members are not competent. Very
effective was only mentioned by 21 farmers, not sure and don’t know was mentioned by 8 and 1 farmer
respectively.
Table 4.4 Rating Marketing Core Competencies of Committee Members
Very effective
Effective
Not effective
A
Not sure
Do not know
Total
Frequency
21
47
123
8
1
200
Percent
10.5
23.5
61.5
4.0
0.5
100.0
Research data, 2014
Market Positioning Attribute Scores in Commercial Fish Farming under ESP
Results in Table 4.5 below show more than 100 respondents ‘agree’ with all statements; Online marketing with
108 mentions, market segmentation with 165 mentions, communication distribution with 142 mentions and
market target with 108 mentions. This indicated that all these means of market positioning are currently very
crucial. Those farmers disagreeing were only 2. This also affirms that the farmers were aware of the potential
market positioning methods. This is critical in the sense that to develop linkage with marketing chain and
industry players for service to enhance fish product presence and ownership of fish brand. In market-spaces, the
internet is a virtual shop. Online marketing is currently operating in very few fish farming business. In this
marketing strategy, the focus should be responding to consumer needs, wants and demands through market
position, market segmentation, and target marketing couple with properly linked communication and distribution
channels.
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Table 4.5 Attributes Associated with Market Positioning
Online marketing
Market segmentation
A
Communication distribution
Market target
Strongly
Agree
74
9
19
52
Agree
Indifferent
108
165
142
108
2
11
5
9
Disagree
16
15
32
31
Strongly
Disagree
0
0
2
0
Total
200
200
200
200
Research data, 2014
Effective Market Positioning Attribute Scores
Results in Table 4.5 above show 119 farmers strongly agree that positioning increases market share and 125
farmers strongly agreed that positioning has effect of increasing profit margin. Strongly agree scores are relatively
very high and outline that market positioning was important in effective marketing. Growth of any business is
evaluated through the profit and market share. The study found that farmers strongly feel that the two aspects of
business success will be affected by market location. In order to acquire the target of ICT (information
communication and Technology) in the sector is therefore vital and needs to be fast tracked (fisheries marketing
strategy, 2009-2013).
Hypotheses Testing
H01: There is no relationship between branding and marketing of fish in Kitui County under economic stimulus
programme
With a P value of 0.003; probability of rejecting a correct null hypothesis is less than 0.005 hence the alternative
hypothesis is adopted and the conclusion that Product branding has a significant influence on effective marketing
of fish products in Kitui County
H02: There is no relationship between sales promotion and commercial fish farming in Kitui County under
economic stimulus programme
With a P value of 0.002; probability of rejecting a correct null hypothesis is less than 0.005 hence the alternative
hypothesis is adopted and the conclusion that Sales promotion has a significant influence on effective marketing
of fish products in Kitui County. With a P value of 0.003; probability of rejecting a correct null hypothesis is less
than 0.005 hence the alternative
H03: There is no relationship between the core competences and commercial fish farming under economic stimulus
programme in Kitui County
With a P value of 0.001; probability of rejecting a correct null hypothesis is less than 0.005 hence the alternative
hypothesis is adopted and the conclusion that Core Competence has a significant influence on effective marketing
of fish products in Kitui County.
H04: There is no relationship between market positioning and commercial fish farming under economic stimulus
under economic stimulus programme in Kitui County
The null hypothesis is rejected and the conclusion that Market Positioning has a significant influence on effective
marketing of fish products in Kitui County.
Multiple Regression Analysis
R- Squared is 0.82; this means R is root square is 0.91 which shows that it’s a positive relationship across all the
four variables of the study. A unit change in any of the independent variables is causing a positive change in the
dependent variable. These results are shown in table 4.6 below:
Table 4.6: Computed Values for the Four Regressors
Repressor
Constant(ß0)
product branding(ß1)
sales promotion(ß2)
market positioning(ß3)
core competencies(ß4)
unknown parameters(e)
Coefficients
5.138
0.912
0.435
0.498
0.652
0.023
P values
0.001
0.003
0.002
0.003
0.001
0.000
R squared =0.82, Adjusted R squared= 0.78.
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Empirical Model Equation
Effective commercial fish farming= 5.138 +0.912 Product Branding+ 0.435Sales Promotion+ 0.498Market
Positioning+ 0.652Core Competencies+ Error Term
The constant of regression model was 5.138, coefficient of product branding was 0.912, coefficient of sales
promotion was 0.435, coefficient of core competence was 0.498 and coefficient of market positioning was
0.652.This means an increase of one unit score in each variable i.e. product branding, sales promotion, core
competence and market positioning will affect strategic marketing by 91.2%, 43.5%, 49.8% and 65.2%
respectively. Since all variables are contributing positively upon a change, we can sufficiently argue that these
variables determine the values of the dependent variable.
Summary
Frequencies and percentages were used in discussing all objectives and finally conclusions. The return rate of the
questionnaire was 100% since this was done with support from department of fisheries. Males constituted 69.5%
while females were 30.5%. Age distribution was as follows 31 to 35 yrs (43.5%), 36 to 40 yrs (15.0%) and 41 yrs
and above (41.5%). All farmers are moderately learnt with 4.5% having postgraduate degree, at least 9% have
bachelor’s degree and 64% have got the basic education. Experience of the farmers was found to be outstanding
with; 58.5% farmers having experience of within 10 to 15 years, 24.5% with experience of 2 to 9 years and only
17% had an experience of one year and below.
Branding was found to greatly affect marketing of the fish products. Out of the 200 farmers 145 indicated that it
had effect on effective marketing. It was also found that the government and the community were the major
financiers of the branding. Farmers indicated that there was no specific criterion that the committee of product
branding to facilitate marketing of fish products could follow. This was mentioned by 125 farmers which was
62.5% of the sample.
Most of farmers use personal selling as the method of selling their fish product, (74.0% of the farmers). The other
sales promotions included; Advertising (20.5%), Shows and exhibition (4.0%) and Mobile telephony connectivity
(1.5%). However, inadequate sales promotions do affect effective marketing of fish product in Kitui County.
The study established that inadequate training was a major factor affecting competence in marketing of
commercial fish farming under ESP. The committee members were found to be ineffective with 61.5% of the
farmers mentioning that. The community was found to be highly involved in the ESP projects with 66% of the
farmers suggesting this.
Positioning of the market affected greatly marketing, with 86.5% saying ‘yes’. Only 13.5% of the famers
commented to the contrary.
Conclusion
Branding was found to be key factor in commercial fish farming, therefore it made sense to understand that
branding was not about getting your target market to choose your competitors, but it is about getting your
prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. Promotions can spur purchases by
established customers, reel in new customers, draw customers from competitors, get current customers to buy
differently, and stimulate business during slow periods. Promotions work especially well when consumers are in
need of a jolt to take buying action. Training in crucial knowledge and competences in handling fish and
developing a stable and sustainable fish market was found to greatly impact on the development of commercial
fish farming in Kitui County.
Positioning strategy, by its very nature, involves your value relative to your competition. What do you do or offer
that’s better (or not as competitive) as others who offer similar products and services? When these differences are
identified, supported with proof points, and properly merchandised your prospects will have an accurate and
compelling basis to compare your company to others.
Recommendation
Lack of major keys like branding, sales force, training and market position play a big role in depleting the
production of the fish. To make fish available to consumers at the right time and in the right place requires an
effective marketing system.
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Vol. 4, No. 8(1); June 2014
Recommendation for Further Studies
The study recommends further studies to investigate on mediation variable and moderation variables on the
relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable such government policies, people’s culture
and finances effect on commercial fish farming. The study also recommends research of marketing of commercial
fish farming under economic stimulus programme in other counties apart from Kitui County for comparison
purpose.
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